Editorials

Enjoy Riverside Park again, but be careful

Posted:
11/05/2013 10:20:27 AM MST

Fort Morgan city workers have put a lot of effort into getting parts of Riverside Park back into shape, and that effort paid off with the reopening yesterday of the southwest corner of the park and some of the trails.

The parts of the park that are open again are looking good.

The playground has been sanitized and has new sand.

The disc golf course has at least nine holes open, allowing enthusiasts and amateurs alike to get in a round.

The duck pond looks like normal, with the usual ducks and geese galore, all waiting to be fed bread crumbs — until the geese head south for the winter, that is.

Many of the grassy areas are open again, ready for casual games of tag or soccer or whatever, depending on the weather.

Things are getting back to normal at Riverside Park.

But there are many signs of the havoc wrought by the flood in September.

Chain-link fences have been set up to keep people out of the still-closed areas at the front of the park.

And back in the trails, barriers and signs direct traffic to keep people to the safe paths and away from the still-dangerous areas.

Some of those are pretty obvious, with areas of flattened cattails and orange plastic fencing where the trail had to be rerouted because of sudden drop-offs or holes.

These are puny compared to the ones in the still-closed parts of the trail system, which are far larger and scarier to see.

And alongside the opened path, the ground is still very soft and can give way, so staying on the trail is a good idea.

The city made it a priority to get the park reopened so that people can go back to enjoying it.

That priority has paid off.

Riverside Park is an important part of this community, and having it accessible again, albeit only in part so far, is essential to recovering from the flood.

Bravo to the city for making that happen in less than two months' time.

And good luck to the Parks Department on all of the work still remaining to fix up the rest of the trails systems and the areas along the South Platte River and back east around the fishing ponds. We know you can do it, and look forward to the day when no parts of the park are closed off.

But each of us has to do our part now.

We can and should enjoy the park, but we also need to be responsible in doing so by minding the barriers and staying on the trails.

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